Construction’s Still Lagging in Tech Adoption

The construction industry is continuing to lag well behind other industries in its adoption of digital tools, despite the technology’s potential to significantly improve project delivery and business outcomes.

That point was made repeatedly by presenters at the Construction Management Association of America’s annual conference, held earlier this month in Orlando, Fla.Addressing the use of business intelligence and data visualization tools, Marty Turner, principal program controls manager with Jacobs, cited a 2018 KPMG survey of construction/engineering industry chief information officers showing that just 23% had a “clear digital business vision and strategy” across their enterprise, compared with 32% of all industries.

Another 23% reported having a digital business strategy for certain business units.That left 54% of construction/engineering firms entirely lacking a clear digital business strategy.Still, Turner told attendees: “That’s a huge improvement over years past.” With nearly a quarter of all construction and engineering firms applying business analytics across all of their enterprise, “That’s incredible,” he adds.